Spring is my favorite time of the year and woodland wildflowers are my favorite group of plants. When the forest has said goodbye to early blooming spring beauty and toothwort, and is welcoming the flowers of trillium, Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) is just making its emergence through the leaf debris and humus. Soon, though, the compound leaves will be up to their 1-to-3-foot height and Jack will ascend into the pulpit.
Jack-in-the-pulpit can easily be found throughout WI and the eastern 2/3 of North America in rich, moist, bottomland forests and shady damp places. Though a common plant, it is a rarity of the Arum family, whose members are mostly tropical. The species may bloom as early as late April, but in a cool spring often waits until May. Reproductive parts of the flower are produced on a greenish-white cylindrical finger-like stalk, called the spadix (“Jack,”) which is then surrounded by a dull green leafy structure, botanically known as the spathe (“Pulpit.”) Unlike many other spring blooming woodland wildflowers, the foliage usually remains through the summer and assists in the late summer ripening of the showy scarlet berries.
All parts of Jack-in-the-pulpit contain calcium oxalate crystals, which, if eaten, produce a hot burning sensation in the throat and may cause the mouth to swell. Despite this characteristic, the underground storage structure, known as a corm, has been used both for culinary purposes and medicinally. Though some sources state that boiling destroys the crystals, Euell Gibbons, the noted naturalist of the mid-20th century, affirms that this is said only by those who have never tried it. He said, “I have boiled Indian Turnip (another name for Jack-in-the-pulpit) for hours, and they were still far too pungent for anyone to take even one bite of them. To eat a whole serving of such concentrated fire would not only be sheer torture, but would undoubtedly cause serious gastric disturbances.”
Native Americans have taken advantage of this peppery property by using it as a counterirritant, causing pain such that the user no longer thinks about the original discomfort. The Pawnee dusted freshly dried corms on the foreheads of those inflicted by headaches, or on a rheumatic joint. This compound would then cause sweating, which in turn caused the powder to sting and burn until the pain on the outside was worse than the pain on the inside! Likewise, the Chippewa applied it externally to soothe sore eyes, and the Osage and Shawnee used it to treat coughs and fevers.
Though boiling will not destroy the calcium oxalate crystals, prolonged drying will eliminate their effect, making them sweet and palatable. Mr. Gibbons emphasizes, however, that the corms must be completely dried, or the peppery taste will still be evident. The dried material is said to have a slight cocoa flavor and can be pulverized and mixed with wheat flower to produce cakes, cookies, muffins, rolls, and pancakes. Dried slices of Jack-in-the-pulpit corms can be slightly toasted and eaten like potato chips, or crumbled, boiled and eaten with cream and sugar as a cereal.
Thankfully, few of us have the means or patience to dry the corms of Jack-in-the-pulpit and use them in the kitchen, or the natural supply may become seriously depleted. I think I’ll just admire this masterpiece of Creation and ponder on the environmental sermon that Pastor Jack is no doubt preaching.
The Cottage Gardener 